Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Backyard Flock: Starved! (for people food, that is...)

If you ever watched me let the chickens out in the morning, you would probably report me to the authorities. Surely, you would think I hadn't fed them in days. They burst out the door in one big explosion and swarm around my feet like sharks that have just smelled blood, waiting for me to hand out the table scraps from last night's meal. But, if you inspected their coops, you would find adequate supplies of chicken feed and water.

I feed them cracked corn and crumble in a ratio of about 2 to 1. They like it okay. But, they like people food better. They go through their day scratching and pecking and slowly working on the feed I give them every morning. But, they always have one eye on the house. We have a big glass sliding door that opens from our kitchen onto the back deck. If I look out at them, they react immediately. They watch me as I move about in the house, waiting for that moment when I will open the back door and emerge with some fat and gristle I have cut from a steak, left over pasta with spaghetti sauce, water melon rinds...

Below is some video I posted on YouTube of my stepson having fun with them before doling out some leftovers.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very funny video, but did you see all of the YouTube related links? "Teasing the Girls" results in some interesting associations.